Title in reach as Double R prepares for season finale at Nurburgring

Double R Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi will have an opportunity to challenge for the coveted title in only his maiden season in the category.

Germany’s Nurburgring will host the final three rounds of the 2013 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series this weekend, 21st/22nd September, where Double R Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi will have an opportunity to challenge for the coveted title in only his maiden season in the category.

Antonio Giovinazzi

Photo by: Daniel James Smith

Third in the driver standings going into the last event of the British F3 season, with two race victories and three further podiums to his credit so far, the 19-year-old Italian will return to the German track, where he was in action last month in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, within 21 points of the British F3 series lead.

Giovinazzi has certainly impressed in his rookie year in F3 with Woking’s Double R and although he faces a tough challenge to try and bid for the title, team principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt is sure the reigning Formula Pilota China Champion will deliver a series of strong performances at the weekend. Confidence is especially high as the Italian was in the points at the Nurburgring in the FIA F3 series.

“It’s still all to play for”, said Hieatt, “Antonio has had a fantastic first year and the experience he gained at the Nurburgring in the European championship can only work in his favour. Ideally, we’d love to end the British season with a couple more wins and although the title is a bit of a long shot, we’ll be giving it our all.”

Indonesian 16-year-old Sean Gelael will arrive at the Nurburgring sixth in the championship, 31 points behind his more experienced team-mate but only a mere nine points outside the top four where he is bidding to conclude his first season in British F3.

Like Giovinazzi, Gelael has celebrated podium success on more than one occasion this year with a total of three rostrum visits so far – two at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in the UK and one at the daunting Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

Colombian lady racer Tatiana Calderón, meanwhile, goes into the British F3 finale eighth in the driver standings and aiming to add to the trio of top four results she has achieved up to now. Taking fourth place in round one at Silverstone, the 20-year-old added another brace of top fours at Spa – can her maiden podium be achieved this coming weekend?

“Sean and Tatiana have delivered some strong performances in the British series and it’d be great to see them both on the podium at the Nurburgring”, added Hieatt, “Like Antonio, they’ve both developed impressively over the course of the year and deserve to end the campaign on a high.”

Last week, the Double R drivers were involved in an officially timed test at Hockenheim in Germany as preparation for the final three race meetings of the dovetailed FIA Formula 3 European Championship season. Giovinazzi ended the second afternoon of the two-day outing within 0.5 seconds of the pace, 12th fastest for the session, with Gelael just over a second outside the quickest time and Calderón within 1.8 seconds of the top of the timesheets.

Returning to the upcoming British F3 finale, free practice and qualifying for the final three races of the season will take place at the Nurburgring on Friday, 20th September, ahead of rounds 10 and 11 on Saturday, 21st September, at 10.50 and 16.10 (local time). Round 12 will follow on Sunday, 22nd September, at 08.30 (local time).